Egypt

Court to consider retrial of 67 defendants over top prosecutor killing

Egypt's Court of Cassation was set to consider the retrial of 67 defendants، after receiving sentences ranging from death، life، to ten years، in prison، after being convicted for their involvement in the murder of the country's chief prosecutor Hisham Barakat in 2015.

In July، South Cairo Criminal Court sentenced 28 people to death for their involvement in the murder of the country's chief prosecutor in 2015. Hisham Barakat was killed in a car bomb after jihadists called for attacks on judiciary.

The Cairo Criminal Court also handed down jail sentences ranging from 10 years to life to 38 co-defendants in the same case. Of 67 defendants، 15 are still at large. The ruling can be appealed.Barakat was killed in 2015 in a car bomb attack that struck his convoy in the upscale eastern Cairo district of Heliopolis.

A self-proclaimed militant group “Popular Resistance” claimed responsibility for the bombing. A court in February 2017 designated the group a terrorist organisation.